Chocolate Mocha Ice Cream

Ice cream is a year-round favorite, but summertime heat makes this icy, creamy treat even more enjoyable. Supermarkets are full of tubs, cartons, and boxes offering all kinds of flavors, but consider making your own ice cream.

These recipes are a great exercise for cooks of all ages. Let the younger chefs stir up the ingredients and adults can handle any cooking (for custard-based ice creams). And everyone can help with churning if you are still holding on to grandma’s hand-operated ice cream maker.

Not all ice creams are the same though. Here’s quick primer on what’s what:

Traditional: Made with cream or milk, sugar, and can include eggs, stabilizers and flavorings such as vanilla, chocolate, and fruit. For a product to be labeled ice cream it must have at least 10 percent milk fat, according to the International Dairy Foods Association.

Custard: Also called French ice cream, the ultra-rich base starts with fluid milk, egg yolks or whole eggs, and sweeteners.

Ice milk: A softer version of ice cream made with less butterfat. Since 1994, manufacturers have been able to label ice milk products low-fat ice cream.

Sherbet: Sorbet’s creamy cousin with milk added to the fruit-based mixture.

Gelato: A dense ice cream generally made with more milk than cream (making it lower in fat), egg yolks, sugar or other sweeteners and flavorings. Gelato has a more intense flavor than traditional ice cream and less air, according to the International Dairy Foods Association.

Of course, consumers can easily find special diet or preference options including lactose-free, gluten-free, and organic ice creams.

For today’s recipe we went the ultra-easy route: A from-scratch ice cream made with fluid milk and cream that doesn’t require the home cook to buy another appliance.

Recipe provided by Heather McPherson from Heather's Florida Kitchen.